A Corpus Study of Retroflex Realizations in Beijing and Taiwan Mandarin
نویسنده
چکیده
This study investigated the spectral distributions of Mandarin retroflexion produced by Beijing Mandarin and Taiwan Mandarin speakers. Results showed that Taiwan Mandarin speakers‟ retroflex production had a higher spectral mean than their Beijing Mandarin counterparts, yet the two groups‟ distributions overlapped to a certain degree. This indicates that retroflexion is gradient and that retroflexion in Beijing Mandarin is acoustically more retroflexed. The degree of retroflexion was also modeled as a function of frication duration, as we hypothesized longer segmental duration allows fuller retroflex articulation.
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